Aerosol dispenser actuator

ABSTRACT

An aerosol dispenser actuator including a button movable in a tilting fashion to open a valve to exhaust contents of an aerosol container, and means associated with the button and rotatable to a first position in which the button may be tilted and to a second position in which the button is prevented from being tilted, whereby to inhibit unintended operation of the valve.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Louis V. Nigro Saugus, Mass. [2]]Appl. No. 841,029 [22] Filed July 11, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 24, 197173] Assignee The Gillette Company Boston, Mass.

I 54], AEROSOL DISPENSER ACTUATOR 6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs. [52] 11.8.CI ..222/402.11, 222/402.13, 222/402.21 [51] Int. Cl 865d 83/14 [50]Field ol'Search 222/153, 394, 402.11, 402.12, 402.13, 402.14, 402.15,402.21, 402.22, 402.23

' [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,752,066 6/1956 AyresZZZ/402.11

3,050,219 8/1962 Sagarin et a1. ZZZ/402.11 X 3,325,054 6/1967 BraunZZZ/402.11 X 3,422,996 1/1969 Lipman ZZZ/402.11 3,426,948 2/1969Stirling... ZZZ/402.11 3,484,023 12/1969 Meshberg ZZZ/402.11

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-T. E. KocovskyAttorneys-Philip Colman, Oistein J. Bratlie, William M.

Anderson and Scott R. Foster ABSTRACT: An aerosol dispenser actuatorincluding a button movable in a tilting fashion to open a valve toexhaust contents of an aerosol container, and means associated with thebutton and rotatable to a first position in which the button may betilted and to a second position in which the button is prevented frombeing tilted, whereby to inhibit unintended operation of the valve:

. PATENTEDAUB24|971 22 10 Fig. Z

INVIWH )R LOUIS V. NIGRO HY #f BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention This invention relates to aerosol dispensers and isdirected more particularly to a tilt-type dispensing mechanism and meansfor locking the mechanism to prevent accidental discharge of thecontents of an aerosol container.

2. Description of the Prior Art Aerosol dispensers having tilt-typeactuators are well known and are presently marketed to a large extent.One problem common to the various actuators of this type is that ofaccidental discharge of the contents of the aerosol container because ofinadvertent tilting of the valve stem, or button. Frequently, afterpurchase of such a dispenser, the protective cap is thrown away and theactuator button left unprotected.

Subsequently, if the dispenser is packed into a suit case, or.

otherwise packed with several other articles, it often happens thatpressure is applied to the button sufficient to tilt the button andcause operation of the dispenser valve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an aerosol dispenser actuator of tilt-type having apermanent protective cover. I

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a dispenseractuator in which a portion of the cover may be rotated to a firstposition in which the button may be operated and to a second position inwhich operation of the button is prevented.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, afeature of the present invention is the provision ofan aerosol dispenseractuator comprising a button movable in a tilting fashion to open avalve whereby to exhaust contents of an aerosol container, a collardisposed proximate to the button and including an interrupted annularwall surrounding the button, and a cap which receives the outlet end ofthe button and which includes radially extending ribs movable along thetop of the interrupted annular wall and adapted to enter openings in thewall whereby to permit tilting of the cap and thereby tilting ofthebutton.

The above and other features of the invention, including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts, will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in theclaims.

It will be understoodthat the particular device embodying the Iinvention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitationof the invention. The principles and features of this invention may beemployed in various and numerous embodi merits without departing fromthe scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings in which there is shown an illustrative embodiment of theinvention from which'its novel features and advantages will be apparent.

' FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective, partially broken away, view of oneform of actuator illustrative of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view of the cap portion of theactuator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational, partly sectional, partly broken away, view ofthe actuator shown in FIG. 1' but fully assembled;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, partly broken away showing the actua tor of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 3 but shows the actuator cap in a differentposition;

FIG. 6 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the actuator shown in FIG.5; and

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 5 but shows the cap member in the dispenservalve actuating position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 it will beseen that an aerosol container '2 is provided with a collar' member 4having a recess 6 for receiving a cap member 8. The caprn'ember'8includes a tubucontents of the aerosol container 2.Asm'ay be seen inFIG. 2,

the cap member 8 may be provided with a nozzle passage 14 incommunication with the tubular portion 10 and extending through a nozzleportion 16 of the'cap member/If desired, the nozzle portion 16 may beomitted and the nozzle passage 14 may extend axially of the tubularportion 10.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the collar member 4 isprovided with an annular interrupted wall 18 having spaced openings 20therein. The collar member 4 is further provided with radially extendingribs 22 which-intersect the interrupted annular wall 18.

The cap member 8 is also provided with radial ribs 24 extending inwardlyfrom an apron 26 provided on the periphery of the cap member. The apron26 is provided with grooves 28 and a lug 30 for purposes to be describedbelow.

In the assembled actuator, the cap member 8 is rotatably disposed uponthe valve stem 12. As may be seen in FIGS. 4 and 6, the collar member 4is provided with oppositely disposed openings 32, one of which may serveto receive a thumb or finger of an operator, and the other serve toreceive the discharge end of the nozzle portion 16. The cap member maybe provided with a recess 34 to which the operators thumb or finger isapplied to actuate the dispenser valve.

In operation, the cap member 8 is movable rotatively relative to thevalve stem 12 and slidably on the annular wall 18 and radial walls 22.Bottom edge 36 of the apron 26 of the cap member 8 slides along .the topedges 38 of the radial walls 22 and free edges 40 of the radial walls 24slide along free edge 42 ot'the annular wall 18.

To prevent inadvertent discharge of the contents of the containt-r 2,the cap member 8 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. 4 in which thenozzle portion 16 is proximate to an edge of one of the openings 32. Inthis position, the free edge 36 of the apron 26 rests upon the edges 38of the collar radial walls 22. Further, in the position shown in FIG. 4,the cap radial walls 24 rest upon the free edge 42 of the annular wall18. Consequently, tilting movement of the valve stem 12 is prevented.

Rotation of the cap member 8 clockwise, from the position shown in FIG.4 to the position shown in FIG. 6, results in engagement of the lug 30with one of the collar radial ribs 22 whereby to insure alignment of thecap member 8 with respect to the collar 4 to permit tilting of the capmember and thereby tilting of the valve stem 12 to discharge contents ofthe container 2. In the position shown in FIG. 6, the cap radial walls24 are aligned with the collar annular wall openings 20. Further, thegrooves 28 in the apron 26 of the cap member 8 are aligned withrespective collar radial walls 22 to permit movement of the cap member 8in a direction toward the container 2. It will be noted that there is nogroove in the apron 26 in the vicinity of the nozzle portion 16 of thecap member. Accordingly, this portion of the apron rests upon the freeedge 38 of thecollar radial rib 22 proximate to the nozzle portion 16 ofthe cap member, whereby to prevent movement of that portion of the capmember toward the container 2. Thus, pressing of the cap member towardthe container results in a tilting movement of the cap member thereby totilt the stem 12 to operate the dispenser. When the cap member and thecollar member'are in alignment for operation of the dispenser, therecess 34 will be in alignment with one of the openings 32 and thenou'leportion 16 will be substantially centered in the other opening 32.

Since certain obvious changes may be made in the illustrated devicewithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matters contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An aerosol dispenser actuator comprising a button movable in atilting fashion to open a valve whereby to exhaust contents of anaerosol container through said button, a collar disposed proximate tothe button and including an interrupted annular wall circumscribing thebutton, and a rotatable cap which slidingly receives the outlet end ofthe button said rotatable cap comprising an end wall bounded by adepending peripheral apron and radially extending walls depending fromsaid end wall and extending to said apron, free edges of said radiallyextending walls being slidingly movable along the top of saidinterrupted annular wall and adapted to enter openings in the annularwall whereby to permit tilting of the cap and thereby tilting of thebutton.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said cap includes apassage in communication with the interior of said button.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said peripheral apron isprovided with a groove therein, and said collar further includes aradial rib, said groove being adapted to receive said collar radial rib.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said peripheral apron isprovided with a lug extending therefrom, and said collar furtherincludes a radial rib, said collar radial rib being engageable with saidlug to obstruct rotation of said cap in one direction.

5. The invention according to claim 1 in which said end wall isrelatively thin and said apron is generally cylindrical, whereby to forma shell-like cap.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which said radial wallscomprise relatively thin plates depending from said end wall andextending to and joining said apron.

1. An aerosol dispenser actuator comprising a button movable in atilting fashion to open a valve whereby to exhaust contents of anaerosol container through said button, a collar disposed proximate tothe button and including an interrupted annular wall circumscribing thebutton, and a rotatable cap which slidingly receives the outlet end ofthe button said rotatable cap comprising an end wall bounded by adepending peripheral apron and radially extending walls depending fromsaid end wall and extending to said apron, free edges of said radiallyextending walls being slidingly movable along the top of saidinterrupted annular wall and adapted to enter openings in the annularwall whereby to permit tilting of the cap and thereby tilting of thebutton.
 2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said cap includesa passage in communication with the interior of said button.
 3. Theinvention according to claim 1 in which said peripheral apron isprovided with a groove therein, and said collar further includes aradial rib, said groove being adapted to receive said collar radial rib.4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said peripheral apron isprovided with a lug extending therefrom, and said collar furtherincludes a radial rib, said collar radial rib being engageable with saidlug to obstruct rotation of said cap in one direction.
 5. The inventionaccording to claim 1 in which said end wall is relatively thin and saidapron is generally cylindrical, whereby to form a shell-like cap.
 6. Theinvention according to claim 5 in which said radial walls compriserelatively thin plates depending from said end wall and extending to andjoining said apron.